Robots Will Begin Replacing Teachers within 10 Years

9/13/2017 2:14:28 PM

Wednesday, September 13, 2017 - 14:14

Within the next ten years as part of a revolution in one-to-one learning, robots will begin replacing teachers in classrooms.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham, Sir Anthony Seldon stated that intelligent machines that adapt to suit the learning styles of individual children will soon render traditional academic teaching all but redundant, Telegraph reports.

The former Master of Wellington College said programs currently being developed in Silicon Valley will learn to read the brains and facial expressions of pupils, adapting the method of communication to what works best for them.

"Everyone can have the very best teacher and it's completely personalised; the software you're working with will be with you throughout your education journey,” Sir Anthony said.

He warned, however, that the new technology would have to be carefully introduced to avoid “infantilizing” pupils and teachers.

As part of robot-led learning, teachers would adopt the role of “overseers”, monitoring the progress of individual pupils, leading non-academic activities and providing pastoral support, Sir Anthony said. The efficiency of automated teaching would also mean that only 30 per cent of school time will be spent in class.

The first revolution is understood to consist of learning the basics of survival - foraging, hunting, growing crops and building shelters. The second involved the first organized sharing of knowledge and the third was marked by the invention of printing.

Experts predict that automated teaching of math and science will form the vanguard of machine-led learning, but that sophisticated algorithms would soon be devised to teach the humanities.